A Walk at Midnight
by Zenelia
Summary: Harry can't sleep, so he takes a walk. Who should he meet on this walk than the youngest Weasley, Ginny. What shall pursue? H/G Fluff, after the War. One shot. Please R


**A/N: Ahh, it was in vain for me to try to cure writer's block. For alas, it did not prevail. I still got diddly squat when it comes to the furry plot bunnies that run across your mind. I mean, I have a few ideas for random one-shots, but I'm still stuck on Harry's Reaction. It's bugging me to death, trust me. I know you all want an update, and I want to give you that, but it's just not happening right now, unless you want a really bad chapter. --sigh--. I'm sorry. But here's another random one-shot in the Potterverse that happens to be fluffy. Hope you enjoy!**

Harry Potter could not sleep. He wanted to sleep, but it just wasn't working for him. Only when he was drained emotionally and physically could he sleep, really. So he did what he usually did when he couldn't sleep.

He took a walk around the castle.

Hermione would argue that "it wasn't the proper way to cure insomnia" but Harry didn't care. He also knew that walking around the castle after hours was against the rules, but he had never paid attention to the rules. Just because the war was over didn't mean he was going to start paying attention to rules now. Old habits die hard.

As he walked about the dark castle, he scrutinized his surroundings. He knew his way around Hogwarts better than he knew the shape of the scars on the back of his right hand where Umbridge made him cut "I will not tell lies" into the back of his hand. Now that he was in his 7th year, he realized that he wasn't going to spend his whole life wandering around the school when he wasn't supposed to, or that he wasn't going to keep getting detentions or points knocked off for his rule breaking. He was going to miss this place immensely. He was also going to miss all the people that he met here. Especially the Weasly's and Hermione. Although he figured he wouldn't have to say good-bye to them forever, he was going to eventually have to go his own way. He wasn't to thrilled about that.

Harry was so caught up in his ponderings that he didn't notice the small frame of a person that was in front of him. He also didn't register that he was about to run over the aforementioned small person. He didn't know what happened when he finally did run over the person.

"Ommmphf! I'm sorry!" Harry began apologizing as soon as he got up, which was immediately after he ran over the person. He bent down to help the person up when he saw who it was. Ginny.

* * *

Ginny was annoyed at whoever knocked her over. She felt the weight lifted off of her when the person got up. She rolled over so she could hoist herself up on her arms when the person bent over to help her up, apologizing for knocking her over. She looked up into some shockingly green eyes with a tuft of raven hair hanging above them.

It was none other than Harry Potter, the prince of Ginny's heart for longer than she could remember. Right now that heart of hers was pounding in her chest, threatening to burst out.

"It's ok. I suppose I should feel lucky to be graced with the presence of the ever mysterious and aloof Mr. Potter." Ginny's words were acidic.

* * *

Harry sighed as Ginny snapped at him. He knew he deserved it, but that didn't mean that he liked it. He had been keeping to himself alot nowadays. Ever since the war was over, he barely talked to anyone and disappeared for hours at a time. (If it was in the summer, he would disappear for days). It was his way of coping with all the events.

Yes, Voldemort was gone and done with. But so were alot of people Harry cared about and people he didn't want to see go. So that's really the reason he kept to himself so much; to deal with everyone being gone.

He had also been thinking alot about Ginny. Ever since he first started noticing her in his 6th year when he caught her and Dean snogging in a deserted corridor, Ginny had been present in his thoughts in some way. It was strongest after they had started going out, after that fateful kiss in the common room after the Quidditch victory. When the trio (Harry silently reprimanded himself for calling Ron, Hermione, and himself that, but that's what all the papers had been calling them and it caught on) were on their "extended camping trip" as they liked to refer to it, Harry couldn't stop thinking about how he broke up with Ginny at Dumbledore's funeral.

Harry sighed. He knew he deserved all the grief his ex-girlfriend was giving him. So whenever Ginny snapped, he decided he would reply with, "Sorry."

He somehow thought the word was inadequate, but it's all he could think of. In times of late, he had become near silent, and old habits die hard he supposed for the second time that night.

* * *

Ginny waited for Harry's reply as she got up. She was sorry that she had snapped at him, but it was only minimum guilt. She thought he deserved it fully. It also made her said. It made her sad to see how much Harry was going through, with everything. It ate her up whenever Harry would disappear for days (in the summer) or for hours during school. Whenever she looked into his eyes she felt like she was looking into the eyes of a middle-aged man, and not a 17 year old. Harry had to deal with alot more than a normal teenager should ever have to deal with.

"Didn't you hear me when I said it's ok? What are you doing out here anyway?" Ginny kept snapping at Harry. _That's the only way I can talk to him without showing how I still feel about him. _She thought, with a mental sigh. She didn't like treating Harry that way, but it's the only way she could communicate with him nowadays.

"I could ask the same thing of you, Ginny." Harry said her name for the first time since they had broken up. He had had a hard time thinking her name right after breaking up with her, much less talking it. But time had marched on and things got a little bit easier about that particular subject. Only marginally, however.

**-- Author's inside note: Now I'm going to stop doing page breaks whenever the POV changes because it's mostly dialogue and actions now. I will still write what they are thinking, though. --**

Ginny rolled her eyes at Harry, knowing that all he was doing was avoiding the question. "I know what you're playing at. Answer the question, Harry Potter." She never took any crap from anybody, especially not Harry.

"I was taking a walk." Harry answered reluctlantly. He knew it wouldn't work to try to avoid the question. That was just Ginny's way. "There, I answered, now what are _you_ doing out here?"

Ginny hesitated a minute before answering. The truth was that she needed some room to think. She had a lot on her mind, even though the war was over. Everyone loved the fact that Voldemort was done and gone with, but that didn't exactly mean that everything else was done with. There were Death Eaters still wandering around, and hostile people to be dealt with. She knew that Harry still had a lot going on and she was thinking about that.

But instead, Ginny answered with, "Oh, you know, I just couldn't sleep. And, why are you taking a walk at 2 in the morning?" Ginny shot back to cover her moment of vulnerability.

Harry just shrugged at her question, instead of answering it.

Ginny had nothing else to say. Her heart pounded in her chest, still, as she searched Harry's face. _He really is handsome,_ she thought. Her heart was now starting to ache, from pounding so hard, and from the fact that Harry was no longer hers. She wished with all her might that he still was hers, but he broke up with her. She felt the infamous Weasly blush creep up to her cheeks as the silence started to grow awkward.

Harry studied Ginny's face. He thought she was the most beautiful girl in Hogwarts. He loved getting lost in her chocolate brown eyes, and how her firey hair glinted in sunlight. Right now, her hair was faded in the moonlight. Harry wished that they were still together, but things were awkward between the two of them. Too awkward.

Now Ginny was blushing and Harry felt helpless because he didn't know what to do.

So in true Potter fashion, Harry just said, "I'll be seeing you around, then." Then he started walking in the opposite direction of where he originally came from.

"Wait, Harry! Where are you going?" Ginny jogged the distance Harry had put between the two of them and grabbed onto his arm, holding him back.

Harry took in a sharp breath at Ginny's touch. He wasn't expecting the contact, or the warm familiarity from it. He didn't jerk away, though. In fact he was frozen solid. "I was going to continue my walk, seeing as you weren't saying anything." He said, trying to control his voice.

"Oh. Well do you mind if I walk with you?" Ginny asked, not wanting Harry to leave. She was always so sad and lonely when he left.

"As long as you don't mind wandering aimlessly around the castle, I don't care." Harry answered, thrilled that Ginny still wanted to walk with him. Actually, he was thrilled that Ginny didn't hate his guts in general. He thought she would've after what happened at Dumbledore's funeral.

"I don't mind wandering aimlessly." Ginny smiled, moving her hand down his arm to grab his hand. She intertwined their fingers as they continued walking.

Harry looked down at Ginny's hand, curled around his own. He liked how that felt, the warmth of her hand. Just being around Ginny always made him feel better, and that's exactly what was happening right now.

He felt like he should say something, but he couldn't think of what. So they just walked in silence. It's wasn't an awkward silence, for once however.

Ginny couldn't keep her eyes off of Harry. Right then, he had purple-ish bags under his eyes from sleep deprivation and he was pale. He always got that way whenever he was trying to do to many things at once. And that's what he was doing. _Come to think of it, he does that all the time, _Ginny thought. She sighed and looked in front of her. Then she felt Harry's gaze on her face so she looked over at him.

"What?" She asked, self-concious. She knew Harry really well, but she could never guess what was on his mind. No one could, actually. He was just unpredictable like that.

"You sighed. I was just trying to figure out why. If you're tired, we can go back to Gryffindor Tower. I don't mind." Harry said quietly.

Right now, the pair were outside the Charms classroom, in the corridor. _We've walked farther from Gryffindor Tower than I had thought, _Harry realized.

"Oh, no I was just thinking about something. It's nothing, promise." Ginny answered instantly, trying to make Harry believe it.

Harry smiled for the first time in a while. He knew that Ginny was telling the truth, but he thought it was funny how she jumped to answer. "Calm down, I know what you mean. Ginny, has anyone told you that you're hilarious?" Harry tilted his head so he could look straight into Ginny's eyes.

Ginny grinned because Harry was. _God, is it rare that he smiles. I love it when he does, _Ginny thought, trying not to let herself get caught up in his smile. "No, actually, people seldom think I'm funny. And when they do think I'm funny, they don't tell me." She answered.

"Well then let me be the first." Harry laughed.

Ginny laughed then broke off abruptly. _It's times like these when it feels like we're the same old Ginny and Harry, before he broke my heart. _She thought. Then she started thinking some more. _Maybe I should tell him... ? _She continued to ponder.

Harry noticed that Ginny had been quiet for a while. "Hey, Ginny, is something wrong?" he asked, concern coloring his tone.

"What? Oh. No, I - I - I'm fine." Ginny said, internally kicking herself that she stuttered because Harry caught her off guard.

"Like I'm gonna buy that. I know you better, Gin. What's wrong?" Harry wasn't going to take any of her nonsense.

"Ok, there is something wrong. I don't know how to explain it though." Ginny confessed.

"Gin, you know you can tell me anything." Harry whispered, just loud enough for Ginny to hear.

"I know... Ok, there's this... boy, and he's sending mixed signals to me. It's got me confused." Ginny's voice was reluctant and hesitant. She didn't really want to talk about this at all, much less with Harry.

_I knew there was someone else. Ginny couldn't go a year waiting for me after I left her that way _Harry worked to keep the despair off his face and out of his voice when he spoke. "Well, maybe this... boy you speak of is shy or just as confused as you are." No matter how much he had tried to keep the dejection out of his voice, it had crept back in there.

_God, Harry can be so dense sometimes. The way he sounds and looks, he probably thinks that I'm talking about some other git. He's so thick! Why can't he see that I'm talking about _him_?_ Ginny thought. "Maybe I should just give him a push in the right direction. What do you think about that?" She asked Harry, looking over at him.

Harry was looking straight ahead, thinking about how lucky a guy was that he had Ginny. When she spoke, it caught him off gaurd. "Uhh, I guess it's up to you." He said, knowing he wasn't being a big help.

"Big help, Harry. But I think that I am going to do what I think is best." Ginny kept her eyes on Harry untill he felt her gaze and looked over.

"And what would that be?" He asked in a whisper again.

"This." Ginny said before turning around and pressing her lips against Harry's in a full blown kiss. After about a minute and a half, she pulled back and stared into his eyes again.

"Wow." Harry said after Ginny kissed him. His lips were tingling, and he was yearing for more.

"Harry, has anyone told you that you can be incredibly dense sometimes?" Ginny wrapped her arms around Harry's slender waist as she spoke and she tilted her head back so she could keep looking at his handsome face.

"Other than Hermione and Ron on occasion, no. No one's told me that I can be dense. But I'm sure it's true in some sense of the word." Harry answered with a smile, folding his arms around Ginny's petite frame.

"Then let me be the first. Harry, you can be incredibly dense sometimes." Ginny actually laughed at her joke.

Harry laughed along with Ginny and then he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers once more. He was in heaven. So was she.


End file.
